Canine Valley Fever - Will Leaving the Area Help?

by Bill R.
(Apache Junction, Az, USA)

I have a small dog (14lbs) that we got from a shelter 2 years ago. When we got him I took him to the vet for a checkup. Since we live in Arizona I had him tested for Canine Valley Fever. He came back positive. Teiter was 1:32. He showed NO signs of illness.

The vet put him on itraconasole for a year. His Tieter went down at first (first 6 months) then starting going back up. The vet then put him on fluconasole.

Once again, at first the tieter test went down, now it's back up to 1:32. The vet says that basically leaves use with a torturous regiment of intravenous 7hr injections. I was wondering if I took the dog to an area without Canine Valley Fever if it would help him?

Comments for Canine Valley Fever - Will Leaving the Area Help?

Hi Bill,That is a difficult question to answer, since dogs in areas with a low incidence of Valley Fever (Coccidioides immitis) can still acquire disease.

Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XIV, p. 1266, in the Systemic Fungal Infections Chapter, states that, "some systemic fungal infections have occurred in patients living in areas outside of the typical foci of endemic fungal infection."

In my opinion, your veterinarian seems to be attacking the problem rather aggressively, in a patient with a titer but NO clinical symptoms. Granted, since I attended veterinary school at the U of Florida, it did not allow me to have much clinical hands on experience with Valley Fever, but we learned a lot of immunology.

With a positive titer, at 1:32, that has seemed to stabilize at this level (going down with treatment, but not going any higher) which would lead me to believe that your dog was EXPOSED to the disease, and built up an immunological response as an 'immunity'. According to the Valley Fever website, "Most animals that inhale the spores do not become infected, and many become resistant to infection."

Perhaps this is what happened to your dog?

Also, referring back to the text Current Veterinary Therapy XIV, p. 1266, it says, "The work by Shubitz and associates (2005) indicated that, because of overlap in titers between sub-clinically and clinically infected dogs, serologic titers alone are insufficient to establish a definitive diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever). Thus the diagnosis of this infection requires that additional supportive information (physical examination abnormalities, laboratory abnormalities, radiographic imaging, cytology, and histology) be obtained to establish a clinical diagnosis."

So, the bottom line would be if you are able to move to a totally different area, where there is NO Valley Fever to avoid 're-infection' or further exposure, that might be warranted.

Also, I would NOT continue any anti-fungal drugs when there is no sign of illness. I would also give NO MORE vaccinations to further stress his immune system, and feed a RAW diet!

And re-check his titer in one year. If the titer just maintains at 1:32 for the next 5 years and there are NO signs of illness. I expect that he has been exposed, and this is just the 'normal' level of immunity for him... meaning he is protected from ever getting Valley Fever!

I live in AZ and my dog has valley fever I know something that works.by: Macy

Hi, I live in Tucson, AZ. My dog was diagnosed with valley fever 4 years ago. I was a mess when I found out the news. I do not like to treat my pets with heavy drugs and prefer using supplements and as many natural things as possible. So I did some research and found an all natural supplement called "Desert Defense" it was formulated here in Scottsdale AZ. Let me say this stuff works. My dogs Valley fever numbers dropped and within a year and a half she no longer takes the desert defense. Although it is safe for them to take it forever. I also gave it to my other dogs. When I realized how great this stuff was I told everyone I knew who's dog had VF . They got the same results. My one friends dogs VF numbers stayed the same for 3 years. After he put his dog on desert defense her numbers dropped. So I just wanted to pass some really wonderful info along, when I saw this post I just wanted to share with you this wonderful supplement. Its all natural and it works. O - and you can get it at most feed stores and pet specialty stores like pet club. Not sure what part of AZ you live. Also after doing some research I found that feeding my dog an all grain free diet is best when your dog has Valley fever. The grain feeds the fungus. Hope this helps.

Hi Macy,
Thank you for your comments on the product "Desert Defense" http://desert-defense.com/ an herbal combination to help dogs with the fungal infection, Coccidiomycosis, commonly called Valley Fever. I am glad to hear that it helped your dogs.

Dear Janice,
Thank you for your update on the development of a canine vaccine for Valley Fever. I am very sorry that you lost your Miniature Schnauzer to this awful disease, but I must respectfully decline your offer to support the development of yet 'another' vaccine.

You wrote,
"A one-shot vaccine would be the safest, most effective way to prevent dogs from getting Valley Fever."

Vaccinations do not provide 100% protection. There are many adverse side effects. There are already too many vaccines on the market, and the AVMA has set a limit on those that are absolutely 'essential' calling them the CORE vaccines.
1. Rabies
2. Distemper-Hepatitis-Parainfluenza
3. Parvo

Leptospirosus, Bordatella (kennel cough), and Lyme Vaccine, are questionable in their efficacy, and can sometimes cause the very disease they are supposed to prevent. Rattlesnake vaccine and Ringworm vaccine are also available.

As a holistic veterinarian, my goal is to improve the health of the individual through the most natural means possible *without* doing harm. In my opinion, giving another vaccination is not one of them.

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In the spirit of full
disclosure, we wanted to let you know that we proudly support this
website through advertising and affiliate marketing. In other words,
when you click on a link that takes you outside of this website, we
often earn a small commission. These small commissions allow us to keep
the site up and running and to continue offering it completely free of
charge to you. Rest assured that all content, recommendations and
advice are created before, and are independent of, any sponsorship or
affiliate relationship. Click
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